The ABA is urging Congress to provide funding in fiscal year 2019 for activities authorized under the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act of 2017, which was signed into law last October. The act established a federal infrastructure within the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to support the following efforts: prosecuting elder abuse cases; raising public awareness through outreach efforts; ensuring collection of important data about cases and victims; facilitating effective interagency coordination; improving guardianship proceedings and detecting and redressing abuse by guardians; and providing training and technical assistance to state and local governments on preventing, investigating, prosecuting and remedying elder abuse. “Elder abuse – encompassing physical and sexual abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation – is a problem that respects no boundaries. It is not defined by socio-economic, racial, or ethnic status, and it occurs with alarming frequency across our nation,” ABA Governmental Affairs Director Thomas M. Susman wrote in a June 12 letter to the chairs and ranking members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS). CJS bills that recently have been approved by the appropriations committees in both the House and Senate do not include funding for the act, but the ABA is urging that funding be included in the final version of the fiscal year 2019 appropriations legislation.